In a detailed, nearly 1,300-word analysis piece in the Washington Post (4/3), Frank R. Baumgartner, the Richard J. Richardson distinguished professor of political science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and Betsy Neil, who is about to graduate from UNC at Chapel Hill with a bachelor’s degree in psychology and political science, write that the majority of Americans “oppose the death penalty for” people with mental illness.

Research conducted by Baumgartner and Neil, however, “suggests that the death penalty actually targets those who have mental illnesses.” The authors go on to make the case that those “who are executed have a far higher rate of mental illness than” members of “the general public,” using in their piece a graph that “compares the prevalence of the different diagnoses of these executed inmates with that in the general public, as reported by the National Institute of Mental Health.”

Related Links:

— “Does the death penalty target people who are mentally ill? We checked.,” Frank R. Baumgartner and Betsy Neill, Washington Post, April 3, 2017.

AFP (4/4, Sheridan) reports that research published in the Journal of the American Medical Association suggests certain older people “known as “super-agers” lose less brain volume than regular seniors, which may help them stay sharp.” Investigators found “that super-agers, 80 and older, have a significantly thicker brain cortex than people who are aging normally.”

HealthDay (4/4, Thompson) points out that the study used brain scans.

Related Links:

— “Brains of ‘super-agers’ don’t shrink as fast as others,” Kerry Sheridan, Agence France Presse, April 4, 2017.

MedPage Today (4/4, Harrison) reports that research indicated “patients with a cancer diagnosis had a significantly greater risk of fatal suicide attempts compared with individuals who did not have diagnosed cancer.” Investigators found, in “the analysis of seven studies and almost 250,000 patients…that patients with a cancer diagnosis had a 55% greater risk of death by suicide (OR 1.55) compared with controls who didn’t have cancer.” Meanwhile, “two additional studies focusing on suicide death versus death from other causes showed that cancer patients had a 53% greater risk of suicide death than those without cancer.” The findings were presented at the European Congress of Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Cancer Diagnosis Tied to Suicide Risk,” Pam Harrison, MedPage Today, April 4, 2017.

Medscape (4/4, Davenport) reports youngsters “who suffer severe physical, sexual, or psychological violence when taking part in youth sport are more likely to experience mental health problems as adults,” research suggests. The study “of more than 4000 adults showed that experiencing severe interpersonal violence during youth sport increased the risk for depression, anxiety, and somatic problems,” and “also affected overall mental health.” The findings were presented at the European Psychiatric Association 2017 Congress.

Related Links:

— Medscape (requires login and subscription)

The AP (4/4, Yen) reports Steve Young, a Department of Veterans Affairs deputy undersecretary, testified before the House Veterans Affairs Committee that the department has improved the operation of its suicide hotline. Young said that calls are now answered within eight seconds on average and that it was now “rare” for calls to be bumped to a backup center.

Related Links:

— “VA DEFENDS WORK TO FIX TROUBLED VETERAN SUICIDE HOTLINE,” HOPE YEN, Associate Press, April 4, 2017.

In an opinion piece, psychology professors Christopher J. Ferguson, of Stetson University, PhD, and Patrick Markey, PhD, of Villanova, wrote in the New York Times (4/2, SR6, Subscription Publication), “A large-scale study (4/3, Subscription Publication) of internet-based games recently published in the American Journal of Psychiatry bears out our skepticism about” video game “addiction.” The pair wrote, “Using the American Psychiatric Association’s own metrics for ascertaining psychiatric disorder, the study’s researchers found that at most one percent of video game players might exhibit characteristics of an addiction and that the games were significantly less addictive than, say, gambling.” The study also revealed that nearly “none of those classified as being possibly addicted to video games experienced negative outcomes from this addiction.”

Related Links:

— “Video Games Aren’t Addictive,” CHRISTOPHER J. FERGUSON and PATRICK MARKEY, New York Times, April 1, 2017.

HealthDay (3/31, Pallarito) reported couples raising children with autism may spend less time together than couples who are raising children without autism, according to a study published in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. Researchers found that couples raising a child with autism on average spent “21 fewer minutes a day with their partner than a comparison group of parents.” The study, which included 174 couples with a child with autism and 179 couples without a child with autism, was funded by the National Institute of Mental Health.

Related Links:

— “Parents of Kids With Autism May Sacrifice ‘Couples Time’,” Karen Pallarito, HealthDay, March 31, 2017.

The Washington Post (3/31, Gregg) reported, “Johns Hopkins University has pulled out” of a study to test whether marijuana can “treat post-traumatic stress disorder.” A spokeswoman for Johns Hopkins “said the university’s goals were no longer aligned with those of the administrator of the study, the Santa Cruz-based Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS),” while “a spokesman for MAPS said the dispute was over federal drug policy, and whether to openly challenge federal rules that say medical cannabis research must rely on marijuana grown by the federal National Institute on Drug Abuse.”

Related Links:

— “Johns Hopkins was ready to test pot as a treatment for PTSD. Then it quit the study.,” Aaron Gregg, Washington Post, April 2, 2017.

HealthDay (3/31, Preidt) reported, “Adults who self-harm appear to be at increased risk for suicide over the next year,” researchers found after examining “Medicaid data on more than 62,000 people in 45 states diagnosed with an initial self-harm episode between 2001 and 2007.” The findings were published online March 21 in the American Journal of Psychiatry, a publication of the American Psychiatric Association.

Related Links:

— “Self-Harm Can Be a Harbinger of Suicide,” Robert Preidt, HealthDay, April , 2017.

Medscape (3/30, Anderson) reports a panel of experts has “released a new report [pdf] containing recommendations to rectify the severe shortage of psychiatrists and the dearth of mental health services in the” US. Contained in the report are “a wide-ranging set of recommendations that touch on every area of the specialty, including training, funding, and models of care delivery.” American Psychiatric Association (APA) CEO and Medical Director Saul M. Levin, MD, joined the report’s lead authors to discuss “the report’s recommendations at a press briefing on March 28.” The experts “recommended new and advanced forms of treatment, such as collaborative care and telepsychiatry. ‘We should all be advocating for new, innovative models of care, such as telepsychiatry, which can increase access to specialty psychiatric services across the country,’ said Dr Levin.” The APA now “has a toolkit to help educate psychiatrists and other healthcare” professionals “on how to practice telepsychiatry, said Dr Levin.”

Related Links:

— Medscape (requires login and subscription)